Mine is one of the newer 9.1's, so what is in my mast may not be what's in yours, but here goes: The spreader strut is removeable with firm gentle taps with a modest sized wooden mallet (or a hammer muffled through a chunk of 2x4).

The guy you need to talk to is Mike Feldman at Offshore Spars in Michigan. The last time I called them it was 810-598-4700. They have been helpful and pleasant over the 15 years that I have owned my 9.1 (and never condescending to this female boat owner).

I already removed the spreaders and the black anodized aluminum bar is most definitely bent.

It is definitely more than a rig tuning problem. Because rod riggin requires bends at the spreader tips it is very obvious the upper portion of the shroud could not be tensioned with the spreader in the position it is in.

I should add that I did not see this before and neither did the surveyor. I think it happened recently. The rig was in a very busy place in the marina. In fact 3 weeks ago I complained to the yard manager because every time I came to the yard the rig was moved. I told him I was concerned something might happen to it.

Well needless to say I am glad I mentioned it to him. This morning I called him and told him I thought someone had either dropped the rig on teh spreader or hit the spreader with a car or forklift. He is going to look at it and get back to me.

We did not get into it, but once he gets back to me I am hoping they will fix it since it was due to the fact they did not find a proper place to put my mast.

On my mast, the bars onto which the spreaders attach (mine slip over the bars like a sleeve) are somewhat loose and only become frimly "in place" once you've attached both spreaders to it with the 4 pins (2 per side). With both spreaders removed on mine, the bar can slide back and forth (port to starboard) quite a bit. Everything becomes centered once the spreaders are attached. Like you, I've assumed that these (they appear to be black anodized) bars will not come out easily, if at all. That said, I'm not sure you need to remove them?

I should point out that I have an extra set of spreaders laying around in a box that I assume were removed when my boat was retrofitted with the tall rig (it was originally a short rig being hull #2). I have never compared the spares to the ones in use to see if they're the same. The looseness in my bars may be the result of this retrofit?

If your spreader is bent upward, my first guess would be that the spreader itself is bent. The black bar onto which it attaches is pretty substantial and not likely to bend. Obviously, you could compare the port and starboard spreaders to determine any irregularities. If you find yourself in need of a new spreader, perhaps my spares will fit? I'd have to check them against my primaries to verify size and fit. Fortunately my mast is still down, so I'll try to do in the next week or so...

Your problem could also be a simple rig tuning problem? If the rig is way too slack the same conditions might present themselves without this being a mechanical failure?

The other day I noticed my port side upper spreader is bent up more than it should be. There is much to much slack in the shroud above the spreader. It is not sysmetrical with the starboard side.

How do the spreader bars that are in the mast come out on an Offshore spar? There are two screws on either side of the mast where the spreader bar goes through. I assume they are related but I can not see how they hold the bar in place. The bar is pretty firm in there, I seriously doubt it will come out easily.

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